CODEWITHSUNDEEP
javascript
methuselah
methuselah

Reputation: 13206

Calculating the scrabble score of a word

letter = prompt("Enter a word please");
letter = letter.toUpperCase();

// define letters and respective scores
alphabet = ['A','B','C','D','E','F','G','H','I','J','K','L','M', 'N','O','P','Q',
'R','S','T','U','V','W','X','Y','Z']
alphabetScore = [1, 3, 3, 2, 1, 4, 2, 4, 1, 8, 5, 1, 3, 1, 1, 3, 10, 1, 1, 1, 1, 4, 4, 8, 4, 10]

// start sum
sum=0

for (i=0; i<alphabet.length; i++)
{
switch(letter) 
        {
        case (alphabet[i]): sum+=alphabetScore[i]; break;
        default: sum=sum+0;
        }
}   
alert (sum);

I'm trying to build a program that calculates the Scrabble score of a word. But each time I type in a word - it returns 0. Why is this happening? Sorry for the continuous JS posts - I'm new to the language and have been take extra practical assignments to boost my knowledge of the language. In this case I've been experimenting with the switch statement within a for loop.

Upvotes: 1

Views: 5564

Answers (7)

Naresh Thakur
Naresh Thakur

Reputation: 335

let word = prompt("Enter a word please");

const scrabble = {
  a: 1, b: 3, c:3, d: 2, e: 1, f: 4, g: 2, h:4, i:1, j: 8,
  k: 5, l: 1, m: 3, n: 1, o: 1, p: 3, q: 10, r: 1, s: 1, t: 1,
  u: 1, v: 4, w: 4, x: 8, y: 4, z: 10
};

const sum = [...word].reduce((accu, letter) => { return accu + scrabble[letter.toLowerCase()]; }, 0);

alert(sum);

Upvotes: 1

pholser
pholser

Reputation: 4937

Try modeling the relationship between a letter and its Scrabble point value as an associative array rather than as two parallel arrays:

var word = prompt("Enter a word please");
word = word.toUpperCase();

scores = { 'A' : 1, 'B' : 3, 'C' : 3, /* ... */ 'Z' : 10 };

var sum = 0;
for (var i = 0; i < word.length; ++i) {
    sum += scores[word.charAt(i)] || 0;
}

alert(sum);

Upvotes: 2

curtisdf
curtisdf

Reputation: 4210

You could avoid looping over the entire alphabet for each letter in the word by defining the scores in the form of an object (a.k.a. associative array). Also, your "letter" variable is actually the whole word, so you'd need to loop through the letters individually. The following combines these two ideas:

var word = prompt("Enter a word please");
word = word.toUpperCase();

var alphabet = {
    A: 1,
    B: 3,
    C: 3,
    D: 2,
    E: 1,
    F: 4,
    G: 2,
    H: 4,
    I: 1,
    J: 8,
    K: 5,
    L: 1,
    M: 3,
    N: 1,
    O: 1,
    P: 3,
    Q: 10,
    R: 1,
    S: 1,
    T: 1,
    U: 1,
    V: 4,
    W: 4,
    X: 8,
    Y: 4,
    Z: 10
}

var letter, i, sum = 0;
for (i = 0; i < word.length; i++) {
    letter = word[i];
    sum += alphabet[letter];
}
alert(sum);

Upvotes: 2

gion_13
gion_13

Reputation: 41533

sum = 0;
for(var i=0,l=letter.length;i<l;i++)
    sum += alphabetScore[alphabet.indexOf(letter[i])]

Upvotes: 1

Leonid Shevtsov
Leonid Shevtsov

Reputation: 14179

That's not the appropriate way of using switch.

switch is commonly used to replace several consequential if ... else if ... else if ... else. It's as simple as that. In your case you just need a single if statement inside the loop. And you actually need a double loop.

for each letter in the word
  for each letter in the alphabet
    if they match
      increment score

Good luck.

Upvotes: 2

ruakh
ruakh

Reputation: 183361

You're treating the entire word like it's a single letter, and trying to find where in the alphabet it is. Since it's not in the alphabet at all, you get zero. Instead, you need to loop over the letters of the word.

Upvotes: 1

Ernest Friedman-Hill
Ernest Friedman-Hill

Reputation: 81694

Maybe take a closer look at the line

switch(letter)

Yes?

Upvotes: 1

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